La Doleur Exquise
by nightshoes
Summary: A pair of star cross'd lovers...a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque fic about Rose and Score. Bear in mind it's loosely based - it's not so dramatic that they kill themselves to be together. Rated T for possible fights/crazy-ass wizard duels/language. Fifth-year. Please read and review! It's not as cheesy as it sounds, I promise. Disclaimer: I don't own the world of HP. J.K does. Lucky her.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Greetings. I know there are probably hundreds and hundreds of fics like this but I just HAD to do it: I have decided to base a fic about Scorpius & Rose on Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet'. I feel ultra cheesy and cliché but hey ho. I've subtly changed the character names from the original play and made them more...Potter-ish? Modernized? I don't know. And some characters such as Rose, Scorpius, James and Albus don't have name changes - try and work out which characters they play! (Rose and Score aren't necessary for that, obviously). Anyway, here's the first chapter, I hope you all like, I'm not sure how many changes it'll have from the original plotline but suggestions welcome so please R&R! _

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**Chapter I  
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Through the dense spirals of glittering green smoke, and the bubble and hiss of concoctions being stirred in their cauldrons, I could barely make out the blackboard.

I blew a few annoying strands of curly, reddish-brown hair out of my eyes impatiently. One of the most annoying things about Potions – as much as I enjoyed it – was that the thick, strange steam from _every _potion we made reacted badly with my hair. And as my hair was tangled, long and curly already, _more_ frizz could only be a bad thing.

'Rose?' said Albus uncertainly, from the cauldron next to me.

'Yes?' I replied, trying not to sound irritated.

'I don't get what I'm supposed to do now – I've added the ginger roots – but it's not going green like it's supposed to...'

I looked at my cousin, and I was torn between the desire to laugh and yell. His round, anxious green eyes were hidden behind glasses, which had steamed up in the heat of the Potions classroom.

'You've put too much lavender in there,' I said bossily, standing on my tiptoes to peer into his cauldron. 'You need some bay leaves to counteract it with.'

'Bay leaves?' Albus repeated confusedly.

'Yes, Al, bay leaves. Use about three. They're in the store cupboard, look.'

I shook my head as Albus trotted away. Somehow I was always taking care of him in Potions; it wasn't his _best_ subject. But nonetheless, he was my favourite out of my many cousins – he never failed to look out for me and we were as close now as we were at eleven.

I stirred my own perfectly green potion and then peered at the blackboard again. The next step for the Dreamless Sleep Potion we were making instructed us to let the potion simmer for three minutes. I folded my arms, staring down at the contents of my potion. Even that annoyed me. _Why_ was I in such a bad mood?

'Rose!'

I turned to the second person who had called my name in today's Potions class. It was my best friend, Celeste De Nursley, looking infuriatingly beautiful even in a stuffy classroom standing next to a frothing cauldron. Curse her shiny, non-frizzy blonde hair.

'_Yes_, Cece?'

Celeste's big, wide blue eyes got even wider. 'Alright, no need to jump down my throat!' she tutted.

'Sorry,' I said, trying to sound light-hearted; it was one of Celeste's constant remarks on my character that I was too serious all the time. 'What's the matter?'

'Just – come here.'

'Why? Are you having trouble with your potion or something?'

'No, I just need to tell you something!'

Thinking that my potion needed to simmer anyway, I sidled over to her desk. 'So?'

'You know that Sam Thomas in sixth-year?'

'No,' I said blankly.

'Yes you do!' Celeste told me. 'He's Chaser on the Quidditch team. Dark hair, dark eyes, possible contender for _Witch Weekly_'s Most Charming Smile Award?'

'Oh, yeah, I know him – well, I've only spoken to him a few times, but – '

'Yes, okay, we've established that you know him – well, he told me at breakfast this morning that Joe wants to meet with you!' Celeste said excitedly.

'Joe?' I repeated. '_Joe Parrus_?'

Celeste rolled her eyes. 'Come on, Rose, who else?' she grinned.

Joe Parrus was a sixth-year and Sam Thomas's best friend. Joe played Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; he was exceptionally clever and a prefect, like me; he had many friends and admirers, including James, my older cousin. And he wanted to meet with _me_? I almost cringed at the thought. Well, he was really good-looking, of course, no-one could deny that...and he seemed like a nice person, especially on patrols...

'Rose?'

'Hm?'

'Are you going to meet him, then?'

'_Meet_ him? What, like a date?'

'No, Sam said Joe just wants to talk to you. In the courtyard near Transfiguration. Ooh, this is _so_ exciting! I wonder what he wants to talk to you about. He probably wants to go out with you. What are you going to say? _Please _say yes... you'd make the _best _couple...hey, can I come with you?'

'Cece, calm down! I don't even know if I want to go. Are you _sure_ he said me?'

'Yes, I'm sure!' said Celeste, her grin a mile wide. 'He said to go at break. _Please _go. You don't want to stand him up.'

'I'm sure he'll have loads of girls fawning all over him wherever he is,' I snorted.

'He's not like that,' said Celeste earnestly. 'He's popular, but he's not like a _player_.'

'Come on, class, your potion should well have simmered by now!' the Potions teacher, Professor Cabbell, shouted amid the loud crackling of fires. 'Miss Weasley, Miss De Nursley – cut the chit-chat. Kindly return to your desk, please, or your potion just might explode, and then which grade will you receive for that, I wonder?'

I scuttled back to my own desk shamefacedly, untying a bundle of porcupine quills. Not only did I hate being told off by any teacher in particular, I also hated getting caught being inattentive in lessons, because it looked like I wasn't trying. And I hate myself for thinking it, but there's no denying that disappointing feeling in the pit of my stomach when I don't do as well as I should have done.

I could feel Celeste's eyes boring into the back of my head, but I didn't turn around. I was too deep in thought about what she'd just told me. I couldn't quite believe Joe wanted to meet me. What was he going to say? _It'll be nothing_, I told myself. _It's probably just something to do with our Prefect duties, is all. _

But in spite of myself I really, really hoped it wasn't that.

**OoO**

I remained slightly preoccupied all through the rest of Potions and Charms afterwards, so that my Bubble-Head Charm kept bursting spontaneously and leaving Celeste (whom I was practicing on) sopping wet with water. It was a good thing Professor Boot knew how to get us all dry instantly or else Celeste might not have been so happy to see me head for the courtyard as soon as the bell went for break.

'Tell me everything he says!' Celeste said obsessively, digging in her bag to find some lip gloss. She had decided to go and hunt Sam Thomas down and presumably try and get him to go out with her on the pretext of asking him about Quidditch. I had shook my head in disbelief and laughed at the same time when she'd told me this brilliant plan. She really was shameless.

I smoothed my hair self-consciously as I walked downstairs to the castle courtyard. My stomach felt a bit weird. I hoped I wouldn't do anything stupid.

At that moment, someone came up beside me so suddenly that I almost hurtled down the stairs.

'Off to meet your lover-boy, are we?'

'_James_! For the name of Merlin – '

'Come _on_, Rose, you'd think you'd be used to it by now.'

'That's true,' I said in annoyance. James so frequently popped up from nowhere that I was surprised I wasn't suffering from panic attacks. The number of times he made me jump in one day should be made illegal.

'_So_,' James said in an infuriatingly knowing voice.

'What?' I snapped, though I knew what.

James flashed me a sidelong grin. His brown eyes were sparkling madly and I noticed his hair looked extra mussed-up today.

'I heard the goss. It was _all _the rage in my Defence class. 'Course, Joe wouldn't say a word, though we tried to get it out of him enough times! Little son of a Bludger just stared at the ground and blushed. Sweet, isn't it?'

'What are you on about, James?' I said, unsure whether to believe him.

'Presumably you've been told what Sam told Celeste to tell you – '

'– I have – '

'–well then you'll know _exactly_ what I'm on about.'

'But I don't,' I said, staring at James. 'All I know is he wants to meet me. I don't know what he wants to talk to me about.'

A sly grin slowly inched across his face at my words. My heart almost stopped. That look on James's face was never good.

'_Ah_,' said James as comprehension dawned, stretching the word into a multisyllabic sound. 'Well. I'd best not ruin the surprise for you, then.'

'No – wait, James, you _know_? Tell me!'

'I don't know anything,' James replied with his eyebrows raised. 'You'd best get to the courtyard, it wouldn't be – er – good to keep him waiting.'

'What do you mean? James – '

'Sorry, got to speak to Spinnet about practice tomorrow,' said James over his shoulder, disappearing amongst a tidal wave of students.

I glared after him. If he wasn't my cousin...

Staring towards the courtyard, a mingled feeling of excitement and dread grew in my heart. James had only made me more nervous. I checked my watch; five minutes of break had passed.

Oh, what the hell.

I walked toward the courtyard, trying to make out Joe among the crowds of students and the magnificent fountain in the centre. As I passed through one of the archways, a gaggle of fourth-year girls passed, giving me funny looks and talking in hushed tones. Three guesses what _they_ were talking about.

Joe was sitting on one of my favourite reading benches; it was stone and had a dragon carved into each arm rest on either side. He was sitting alone, but several people were clustered near, watching me walk up to him.

'Hi, Joe,' I said like we'd met by coincidence.

'Hi,' he smiled, looking relieved. 'Er, d'you want to go on a walk?' he added pointedly.

'Um – OK,' I shrugged, silently thinking it was the last thing I wanted to do. Then it would be just Joe and I. Alone.

He stood up and we walked hastily back to the Transfiguration corridor, averting the eyes of everyone watching us go.

'I suppose you know why I asked you to meet me,' Joe said casually, chancing a glance at me.

'I don't, actually,' I said with a laugh. 'James has been dropping massive hints, though.'

'Why doesn't that surprise me?' Joe smiled.

I studied him as we walked, but in little glances so that he wasn't looking. His windswept hair was the colour of chocolate, but his eyes were gooseberry. Not the sort of bright green Albus's were, but kind of a mingled green and grey. These eyes were framed by long, dark eyelashes, the sort Celeste would envy. It was weird; I'd never noticed how good-looking he was...

'Anyway,' Joe continued, as we drifted further out of the main school towards the boathouse, 'I didn't mean for everyone to end up knowing like this, and you probably think I encouraged it or something – '

'No, I don't,' I said truthfully. 'Believe me, if there's one person I know who spreads gossip faster than a Firebolt, it's James. Or Celeste,' I added as an afterthought, giggling.

'Clearly, Sam told the wrong person, then?' Joe joked.

'Yes,' I said, half-seriously.

'Well,' began Joe uncomfortably, 'er, the reason why I wanted to talk to you is because I wanted to ask you to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend.'

We'd stopped walking. We were now stood facing each other in a draughty corridor overlooking the mountains and the lake. I would have appreciated the view if I wasn't almost hyperventilating over what Joe had just said.

'Er – well,' I said, flustered.

'You don't want to,' Joe said quickly, faltering. 'Never mind – '

'No, no,' I interrupted, smiling, 'I'm just surprised! Yeah, I'll come.'

'With me? You want to?'

'Yes,' I said, grinning broadly.

'OK!' Joe said, suddenly alight with happiness. 'So I'll meet you on Saturday after breakfast then? In the Great Hall?'

'I'll be there.'

'Alright, good! Well – I'd best go, I've got Herbology next, and it's miles away. See you, Rose,' he said, and with a grin, he walked away with something of a swagger in his step.

There was a lump forming in my throat. I _liked _Joe, of course I did, but I didn't really know if I wanted to go out with him. I was unsure on whether I agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him purely to spare his feelings.

Then I told myself I was lucky to be going out with Joe; he was smart and kindly, good at sport and attractive – he should be perfect to go on a date with, shouldn't he? And we always got along well at prefect meetings, so it shouldn't be awkward between us. As long as we didn't go in Madam Puddifoot's and see all the disgusting couples with their hands all over each other, we'd be fine.

Yes, I was quite looking forward to it. And if I didn't want to go out with him again, I could just say. He wouldn't take it too hard, I was sure.

With a smile, I imagined Celeste's expression as I was telling her my news in our next lesson, Divination. She would probably get so excited, her crystal ball would explode.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Cha__pter two of my Scorpius/Rose fic. I know in the original play, Benvolio and Tybalt lead the fight, but in my version I made Scorpius and Joe have a fight, and Joe isn't even supposed to be an equivolent of Tybalt but I don't care, it's almost one in the morning. Okay? :)_**  
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**Chapter II**

I walked into breakfast next morning feeling slightly apprehensive. I'd had a strange feeling that everyone would be looking at me or talking about me, as self-centred as it sounded – but luckily, everything was fine. With relief, I flopped down next to Albus, who was helping himself to toast.

'Hey, Al.'

'Hi,' Albus smiled. 'Where's Celeste? Putting on another layer of makeup?'

I raised my eyebrows disapprovingly. Albus was always making jokes about Celeste because she was exactly the sort of fluffy-pink feminine boy-obsessed girl that we always made fun of. 'Come on, Al, she's not like that. She's just...really girly,' I shrugged.

'There's a fine line between girly and just plain – well - '

'Morning, all!' said a voice right behind us, and Albus looked away, trying not to laugh. Celeste dropped into the seat opposite me. 'Ugh, for the name of Merlin, today's the _worst _day on our timetable. Double History of Magic and Divination..._Potions_...'

'Nothing wrong with Potions,' chipped in James cheerily, sidling down the bench next to Celeste and nicking a slice of Al's toast. 'In fact, lessons can be quite fun sometimes...although only when a Filibuster's firework is involved.'

I rolled my eyes haughtily, my eyes on my pumpkin juice, but James saw.

'Something wrong, Miss Prissy? Yeah, I might've known you'd disapprove...I thought you'd lighten up a bit now you've got a _date_ to focus on instead of your school studies.'

Celeste laughed and Albus elbowed me playfully, but I felt myself blushing. 'James, _please _don't tell me you've told Joe anything about me - '

'Me? _Never_,' James replied innocently, with a twinkle in his eye. 'Well – I'd better be off, I've got Care of Magical Creatures first and it's all the way out in the grounds. Besides, I think Joe wants to talk to you – he seemed _very_ concerned for you when he found out you once cried that time in Transfiguration when you came second-from-last.'

'_James_!' I said angrily, going furiously red as he sauntered off looking pleased with himself. 'I'll kill him – that was _only_ because I misheard the essay task!' I shouted after him desperately. 'And I had dust in my eye!'

Albus was roaring with laughter and even Celeste was hiding her smile behind a pink-nailed hand.

'Oh, shut up,' I muttered, grabbing a box of cereal.

'Dust in your eye, my arse,' Albus sniggered.

'It was first-year!' I retorted. 'I was eleven!'

'Yeah, but – '

'Rose?' came a curious voice from behind me.

I turned around. It was Joe, looking as though he was trying not to laugh. My heart almost stopped...I hoped desperately that he hadn't heard what I'd just said.

'Hi,' I said quietly, deciding it was best to act as though he hadn't.

'Er – have you finished with breakfast?' he asked tentatively.

I hadn't, but I suddenly wasn't hungry now he was here and I was desperate to get away from Albus and Celeste anyway.

'Yes,' I said gratefully.

'Well, what's your next lesson? I'll walk you there if you like.'

I could practically feel Celeste's eyes flashing with excitement behind me. I grabbed my bag and stepped over the bench, and Joe grinned and led the way out of the Great Hall. I chanced a glance at Celeste as I left – she gave me a thumbs-up.

'Bye,' Al called. 'Hey – maybe you should take a box of tissues in case you start crying again!'

Inwardly cursing him into the next century, and glowing like a beacon, I followed Joe, who either hadn't heard what he'd said or was pretending to spare my feelings. It was probably the latter.

'I've got History of Magic first,' I said, sighing. Joe whistled.

'Nasty,' he smiled. 'I'm so glad I've dropped it now. I think I would've pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I'd had to cope with Binns for another two years.'

'You know, everyone moans about it, but actually, it's not that bad,' I said reasonably as we climbed the marble steps in the Entrance Hall. 'I mean, _I _found the goblin riot topic quite interesting – it certainly puts things in perspective, doesn't it? And it makes you see goblins in a whole new light – '

'Wait, you actually paid _attention_ to Binns's lectures?' Joe said, amazed. 'The only way I passed that exam for five years was by looking stuff up in the library – and even after that I still scribbled some made-up stuff down.'

'Why does everyone do that?' I wondered, more to myself. 'Al said all he ever did in History of Magic was make stuff up. How much harm can it do to actually learn something once in a while?'

'We're boys, we don't think like that,' Joe told me, shaking his head. 'Although, boys find intelligence in _girls_ very cute.'

'Not all of them,' I corrected him.

'The decent ones,' he retorted, giving me a sidelong grin.

'Oh, and would _you_ deem yourself decent?' I asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Of course,' he said seriously, though the corners of his mouth were twitching. 'Prefect, Quidditch player, model student...future Head Boy...'

'Don't flatter yourself,' I snorted. Though, thinking about it, he probably _was _going to be Head Boy in the future.

'Okay, sorry. I know girls don't like boys with heads up their arses.'

'No-one does!' I retorted.

Joe laughed. 'So, Saturday. What do you want to do?'

'I don't know, what do _you _want to do?' I asked.

'I'm asking you,' he smiled.

'Well, _I'm_ asking _you_,' I countered.

'Okay, well, I thought we could go to The Three Broomsticks for a bit. And then we could go to Honeydukes, because I know girls like it when boys buy them chocolate.' He flashed me a perfect grin. 'And then, if you want, we can go to Scrivenshaft's.'

'Why would we go there?' I asked confusedly.

'Because you might want to buy a book to help you with Transfiguration, and then you won't come second-to-last again.'

'_Joe_!' I cried in despair, pushing him. 'I expected it from Al and James, but _you_ – '

'Calm down, I know you were only a little first year,' Joe assured me. 'And I think that's really sweet.'

'I had dust in my eye,' I muttered feebly.

'I'm sure you did,' he said solemnly. 'Well – History of Magic. Here we are.'

We reached the familiar classroom door, belonging to Professor Binns, the ghost professor of History of Magic.

'Thanks.'

'It's alright,' he shrugged. 'Well, it's Ancient Runes for me – '

'You took Ancient Runes?' I asked in disbelief.

'Er – yeah,' he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. 'Sam takes the piss out of me all the time, he says it's a soft subject, but – '

'No, I love it!' I said truthfully. 'It's one of my favourite subjects!'

'It's great, isn't it?' he said enthusiastically. 'It's even better at NEWT level, you get to translate whole scripts and everything – '

'Ooh, fascinating,' said Albus, who had just reached the top of the staircase.

'Go away, Al,' I said in annoyance, but it was Joe who made to leave.

'I'll see you Saturday, Rose,' he said quickly, and, with a smile, he walked away.

**OoO**

I walked into the Great Hall gratefully at lunchtime, my mouth watering. After double History of Magic, Divination and Potions, even I was starting to feel tired and hungry. I found myself looking forward to Saturday, when I didn't have to endure boring lessons and could spend the whole day with Joe.

Sitting beside Al and Celeste, I started spooning mashed potato onto everyone's plates.

'Thanks, Rose – at least it's only Defence Against the Dark Arts last, eh?' Al said, sighing in relief.

Our teacher, Professor Doctus, was a young, blonde-haired, red-lipsticked woman who had arrived in our third year, when the previous teacher had retired after twenty-two years at Hogwarts. My dad had said that he'd never thought he'd live to see a Defence teacher who'd stayed at Hogwarts for so long. Professor Doctus was fresh from the Ministry and specialised in Dark curses and objects. This, coupled with the fact that she was young and understood us well, meant that she was well-liked among both students and teachers.

'Yeah,' I agreed, starting eagerly on my toad-in-the-hole. 'At least I'll be able to pay attention better.'

'Me too – I would have fallen asleep in History of Magic if I wasn't reading _Witch Weekly _under the desk,' Celeste nodded.

At that moment, James appeared, sitting down opposite me wearing a sort of pitying grimace. He was eyeing me as warily as if I were a time bomb. I frowned at him. Why did I get the feeling I was always the last one to know everything?

'What's up _now_, James?' I said, rolling my eyes.

'Don't get mad at me,' he said. 'I thought you'd know by now.'

'Know what?'

'Well,' he began, 'it looks like maybe your Lover Boy isn't going on a date with you, after all.'

My heart sank.

'_Joe_? What? He _can't've_ cancelled – he really, really likes Rosie, he's not going to just – '

'No, it's not that,' James told Celeste, and relief flooded through me. 'He's in the hospital wing. You could go and see him if you like, Rose,' he added, looking at me with a smirk, 'and sit by his bedside...serenade him...bring grapes...'

'Shut up,' I snapped. 'But – seriously – why's he in the hospital wing? What's happened?'

'He got in a fight,' James replied with his eyebrows raised.

Celeste gasped dramatically; Al snorted and continued eating as though getting in a fight was nothing to get worried about.

'A fight? How bad was it? Who with?' Celeste pestered, desperate to know more.

'It was just before our Transfiguration class,' James began, pleased that we were all craning our necks inwards to listen to his story. 'We were waiting outside the classroom door and there was a little group of people going to Arithmancy. I was trying to chat Genevieve Goldstein up – '

'_Genevieve Goldstein_? That Ravenclaw who looks down her nose at everyone all the time? Oh, James, _please_ – '

'Hey, she's fit!'

'Get back to the story, James!' I groaned, elbowing Celeste to make her shut up.

'Okay. I was chatting up Genevieve Goldstein and I'm going out with her on Sunday so it's all good. Anyway, I don't know how it started but suddenly Joe was pushing away Sam – he must've been holding Joe back or something – and then, he was walking towards that Malfoy and about two or three of his friends – '

' – _Malfoy? _Wait, not – not _Scorpius_ Malfoy? In _our _year?'

'Must be him,' James nodded.

'No! Really? I didn't think _he'd_ get into a fight – was it like a violent fight, or –?'

'Wait, _Scorpius Malfoy_?' I interrupted quickly. He seemed vaguely familiar, and I had several classes with the Slytherins, so he must have been present at some point, but I knew for sure I'd never even talked to him. I'd heard his name being mentioned a few times by the other Prefects when they were mentioning a group of Slytherins who'd gotten into trouble, but apart from that, I was oblivious to his existence, and by the sound of him, that was probably a good thing.

'Yeah, Scorpius,' Celeste said. I looked at her blankly.

'_I_ know who he is,' chipped in Albus, spearing a sausage with his fork and gnawing on it.

'See! Even Albus knows who he is. Rosie, he's quite tall, pale, blonde hair, weird – '

'I know who he is!' I gasped suddenly. I'd seen him on my very first day at Hogwarts, as I was boarding the school train. Dad had told me, 'make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie'. Well, I thought as I swelled slightly with pride, I was pretty sure I'd achieved that. If Scorpius Malfoy was beating _me_, I'd know about it.

'Finally!' Celeste sighed, clapping her hand to her head. 'You are just not with it today, Rosie.'

James cleared his throat pointedly.

'Sorry! Go on.'

'_Anyway_. Joe was all, "I think you should shut up, mate" and then Scorpius said, "Yeah? fucking make me", and then there were curses being fired everywhere in the corridor and the next thing you know, Joe's ears are swelling to twice their normal size – '

Albus chuckled quietly into his plate of mashed potato; I stamped on his foot.

' – and that's when they gave up on wands completely and started beating the hell out of each other.'

'_What_?'

'Is Joe okay?'

'Trust them to consider _that_ a good way to resolve an argument,' I sighed, marvelling at the occasional stupidity of boys.

'Sam and some of the Malfoy kid's friends joined in, too – but I think Sam was trying to stop Joe getting hurt more than anything, because that Scorpius is bloody vicious as hell. He's a nasty piece of work, I'm telling you now. _I_ was going to join in with the fight, but you know, I needed to keep my good looks intact for my date with Jenny.' He winked. 'And Professor De Muto came out and stopped the fight, _and _gave everyone involved a detention on Monday, and thirty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. But Joe and Malfoy are both in the hospital wing – Joe's got a black eye and a broken nose now to match his swollen ears.' He clutched at his heart pityingly. 'And the moral of the story is, children, don't resort to violence. At least, not physical violence – just shove a Filibuster's Firework up their – '

'I can't believe he got into a fight!' Celeste said sadly.

'Sounded like Malfoy deserved it, though,' James shrugged.

'Yes, but – what if he's not well enough for Rose's date tomorrow?'

'He will be – Pomfrey's a genius.'

'I'm going up to the hospital wing to see him,' I said firmly.

'Good, give Scorpius another punch from me!' James called.

'See you in Defence!' I said hurriedly to Celeste and Albus, and, snatching my bag and flinging it over my shoulder, I hastily walked out of the Hall.

I was a little shocked and scared that Joe had been in a fight. It made him sound like some violent monster..._no, he's not like that_, I told myself. He wasn't a violent person...what Scorpius Malfoy had been saying must have been bad or he wouldn't have gone that far...he didn't sound like a nice person at all...then again, he was a Malfoy, and both Dad and Uncle Harry had warned me that the Malfoys were about the worst family they knew. They had told me not to bother even talking to Scorpius, and I was glad I hadn't.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips when I came to the hospital wing doors, but she didn't turn me away. Given that the fight had occurred mere hours ago, she forewarned me that he still needed to rest and wasn't looking quite as normal as usual, but I wasn't bothered, as long as he was okay.

Joe beamed when he saw me approaching, a stiff smile on his slightly swollen face. His ears had returned to normal size, but his right eye was bloodshot and there was some patchy bruising around it, an artist's pallet of yellow, brown and blue. His nose also had a bandage on it.

'Ah, no!' he said thickly as I dropped into the chair beside him. 'I was hoping you wouldn't see me like this.'

'Doesn't matter,' I shrugged. 'You know lots of embarrassing stuff about me, I'm guessing.'

'James actually only told me about the Transfiguration thing,' Joe replied.

'That's surprising,' I said seriously.

'I'm guessing he told you about the fight, too?'

'Yeah,' I said gently. 'Are you okay?'

'Of course I am,' he smiled. 'I'm healing already. I was ten times worse an hour ago. You'd have probably ran screaming if you saw me then.'

'I wouldn't,' I said sincerely. Joe chuckled nasally.

'Where is he, anyway?' I asked quietly. 'The one you had the fight with?'

'Over there,' Joe said with a stony expression, indicating the bed at the very end of the hospital wing, covered by a screen. I didn't blame Pomfrey for putting the two of them as far away as possible.

'What even happened? I never thought you'd have a fight – '

Joe sighed. 'I thought you'd say that. You do still want to go with me tomorrow, don't you? You don't think I'm some short-tempered raging idiot?'

'No, of – of course not! Can you still come, though?' I asked anxiously.

'I'll come even if I have to hex Pomfrey to clear the doorway,' Joe winked.

'You'll build yourself a bad rep!' I said sternly. 'No, but honestly – what was he _saying_? Malfoy? Did he provoke you?'

'Honestly, Rose, you have _no _idea how angry he made me,' Joe said, his breathing quickening as though he was preparing to fight again. 'He was saying all sorts of stuff; stuff about his family, and about blood-traitors and Muggle-borns and how they're scum and filthy and how no-one's killed them all off by now – '

'What?'

'It's crazy! His family are all bloody weirdos, it's no wonder he has about two friends. And, _God, _Rose, I just couldn't stand there and take it. No-one even _has _that old prejudice about magical blood any more! Just because he thinks his family is some sort of _royalty_ – what a prick.' His voice was increasing in volume the more he spoke, and I was desperate for Scorpius Malfoy not to hear.

'Calm _down_, Joe, getting angry and stressed isn't good for healing,' I soothed.

'Sorry,' Joe said more quietly. 'And I've lost us thirty points as well, which isn't great...'

'It doesn't matter about that,' I said quickly. 'House points stopped getting interesting in about third year.'

Joe grinned widely at me, his bloodshot, bruised eye watering.

'That looks sore,' I said, wincing.

'It is,' he simpered. 'Oh, the pain!'

I giggled. 'Have you got medicine?'

'Yeah, there's Dittany on the table...could you just put some on my eye –?'

Feeling embarrassed, I up-ended Essence of Dittany onto a cotton cloth and dabbed it around his blossoming bruises.

'I feel like your mother,' I mumbled.

'Nah, my mum worries much worse than this,' Joe said, his eyes closed. '_Joseph William Parrus, you stupid boy, just what do you think you were doing, haven't we taught you that violence isn't the answer?'_

'Your mother's right,' I nodded.

'She is – but in the case of Scorpius Malfoy,' he added, 'I'm sure she can make an exception.'


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: After I'd finished writing this chapter I wondered what the point of it even is. I guess I just wanted to write a bit about the types of things in lessons, and I suppose Rose does a bit of musing about Scorpius as well. Anyway, here it is. _

* * *

**Chapter III**_  
_

I walked into Potions afterwards feeling tetchy and jumpy, so that by the time Professor Cabbell had set us the task of brewing the Draught of Peace, I had mixed up the order of the instructions, emptied ten dove feathers into my cauldron instead of two, and I had no idea what I was doing. I hoped I would be better off in Defence Against the Dark Arts, after an hour to calm down.

'Afternoon, everyone!' Professor Doctus said cheerily. She always wore the same red shoes with a clawed foot serving as the three-inch heel, and today she had a black pointed hat perched jauntily on top of her crown. She resembled the pretty, glamorous sort of witches often seen in _Witch Weekly_, but the class knew her to be strict, firm and highly intelligent.

'I hope you're all having a great day so far,' Professor Doctus smiled. 'Today we're going to continue our work on curses. Can anyone give examples of curses?'

'The Cruciatus Curse!' someone shouted out.

'The Killing Curse,' said Albus from the desk next to mine.

'The Leg-Locker Curse!'

'Sectumsempra,' said someone else.

'Good!' beamed Doctus. 'What do you know about the Body-Bind Curse?'

A murmur and whisper swept the class. I put up my hand.

'Rose?'

'The incantation is _petrificus totalus. _The effect of the curse is that it leaves the victim paralysed and unable to move for a short while, approximately twenty minutes. There are various counter-curses for the spell.'

'Lovely. Ten points to Gryffindor,' said Professor Doctus. 'And as Rose quite rightly said, there are various counter-curses for the Body-Bind Curse. George, can you name one of them?'

George Baddock, a Slytherin who had been attacking his desk with his quill at the back of the classroom, looked up at Professor Doctus smiling pleasantly at him.

'Hm?' he said gormlessly.

'I said, can you name one of the counter-curses for the Body-Bind Curse?'

'Oh...er...'

'Five points from Slytherin,' Doctus said sternly. 'You really should pay more attention in class, George, as we're starting important work today that will likely come up in your OWL. Now, can anyone else give me an example of a counter-curse...?'

I found myself tuning out of Professor Doctus's talk for a few moments. Now that I was suddenly aware of George in the classroom, it occurred to me that Scorpius Malfoy, as a Slytherin, had been present in every Defence Againt the Dark Arts since the beginning of this year, as well as our shared Astronomy and Herbology classes, too. How come I'd never really noticed him before? And he definitely wasn't in my Ancient Runes class, or Divination, but there were a few Slytherins in Care of Magical Creatures so perhaps he was one of them. And yesterday James had said the group of Slytherins was heading off to Arithmancy...he must have Arithmancy whenever I had Divination...

'...the Shield Charm, which would indeed provide sufficient relief from the Body-Bind Curse, yes, thank you, Jane. I expect you've all practiced the counter-curses?'

There was an incoherent mumble from the class. Professor Doctus's eyes narrowed.

'There are three to choose from, each no more powerful from the other – Miss Harper, save the gossiping for your own time, _not _mine – ' (Felicity Harper, a dark-haired Slytherin who had been whispering to her friend behind her, whipped around to face the front as though she had been branded with a red-hot poker, blushing) ' – each no more powerful from the other: _Rennervate_, _Finite_, and _Finite Incantatem_. I think we'd better practice them now, without wands. Everyone: _Rennervate_!'

'_Rennervate_!' the class chanted.

'Once more: _Rennervate_!'

'_Rennervate_!'

We continued in this fashion until we'd repeated all of the counter-curses back to her, and then she ordered us to divide into pairs and practice deflecting the Body-Bind Curse. I partnered with Albus and with a wave of her wand, Doctus caused all of the desks to move to the edges of the classroom and stack on top of each other, leaving a clear space. Albus and I took a spot at the back left corner of the classroom.

'I love having practical lessons like this,' Albus said happily, as he brandished his wand ready; he was about to perform the curse on me. 'She's great, isn't she? _Petrificus totalus_!'

'_Protego_!' I shouted almost at the same time, and a little _pop _meant that my Shield Charm had worked, deflecting the curse.

'Great!' Albus said enthusiastically. 'Okay, now you try.'

'Right,' I said, focusing on Albus's set face. 'And yes, Albus, she _is_ great – but I think you only like her so much because you fancy her. _Petrificus totalus_.'

Before Albus could open his mouth in reply, his legs snapped together and his expression froze – he toppled backwards onto the floor.

I looked around; there were several other people on the floor, too, and many of their partners were giggling and muttering the counter-curses to try and revive them.

'Selina Smith! Ten points from Gryffindor!' came Professor Doctus's angry voice from the front of the classroom, and at that moment a few people stopped what they were doing to turn in Selina's direction; she was standing next to Celeste and looked very embarassed. It was evident that she'd successfully immobilised her partner and just left him frozen on the floor whilst she went to have a chat. I rolled my eyes.

'_Finite_!' I said smartly, pointing my wand at Albus; he blinked and sat up immediately. 'I do _not_ fancy her!' he protested, standing up and going quite red.

We took it in turns to deflect the curse; I was only successfully hit by it twice, the remainder of times being blocked by a Shield Charm. Professor Doctus awarded me twenty points; while I beamed, I caught sight of Felicity Harper rolling her eyes in annoyance and was tempted to put the Body-Bind Curse on _her_ instead.

We left the class quite cheerfully, some of us rubbing our heads or backs from the amount of times we'd been paralysed and hit the floor. I was extremely hungry, since I hadn't eaten much at lunch, and entered the Great Hall at dinner with my nose full of tantalisingly delicious smells.

'Are you going to see Joe again?' Albus asked me as we helped ourselves to chicken and mushroom pie.

'I don't know. We have a lot of homework, don't we? I mean, we've got the essay for History of Magic and the homework for Potions about after-effects of a wrongly brewed Draught of Peace...I might see him tonight, if I finish it all. He says he'll be alright by tomorrow, anyway. Why?' I added curiously, wondering why he was so desperate to know all of a sudden.

'Oh, I don't know...well, that's the thing about homework; I thought if you were free, we could do the History of Magic one together.' Albus looked at me slightly sheepishly.

'Yeah, of course we can, Al,' I smiled; we used to do all of our homework together in first and second year, and as we got older and I became friends with Celeste, we stopped spending so much time out of classes together. Although Celeste made doing homework a bit less boring, I have to admit I did miss doing it with my cousin.

'Are you coming to the match on Sunday?' Al said; there was a Quidditch match scheduled, Gryffindor against Slytherin.

'Of course I am,' I said simply. I did like watching matches and I was pleased whenever Gryffindor won, but sometimes I just didn't understand the fascination with it, and in my opinion, getting homework finished came higher on my list of priorities than watching a Quidditch match. Now, though, since I was seeing Joe and he was on the team, I would _have_ to put in an appearance, for moral support. If our date went well, that is.

'I can't wait,' Albus said excitedly. 'It's going to be one heck of a game, especially since that fight...'

'Yeah,' I said uneasily; what if one of the Slytherins decided to get revenge on Joe for fighting with Scorpius Malfoy, and hit him with a Beater's bat?

'But if Joe _can_ play, like you said, we'll win, no competition.'

'Hopefully,' I said bracingly. 'Hey, why didn't you try out for the team this year?' I asked suddenly. Albus was passionate about Quidditch, yet he never showed any impression of wanting to be on the school team.

'Oh...er...' said Albus vaguely, who was looking at his plate. 'Well, I never thought – with James being on the team...and I didn't want –'

'_Oh_,' I said, understanding. James was Beater on the team, and he had a good reputation as being very skilled, too. Albus feared being overshadowed by him if he was on the team; _it was probably one of those little-brother things_, I thought wisely. 'Well, I'm sure James won't – er – you'd be really good, Al – '

'For the name of Merlin!' Celeste gasped, who had just joined us. She sat down opposite with a particularly grumpy frown on her face. 'Doctus made me stay behind for talking to Selina in lesson...said I wasn't _trying to the best of my ability_...old hag...well if I wasn't going to ask her where her shoes were from before, then I _certainly _won't now...'

Albus and I exchanged looks.

'I'm working on homework with Albus tonight,' I told her, feeling it was best to change the subject. 'Are you doing some, too?'

Celeste looked at me incredulously. 'Are you joking? I'm not doing my homework on a _Friday_, I've got the whole weekend! No thanks, I'm meeting with Selina tonight, anyway, she said she'd show me her new dress robes.'

'Ooh, what colour are they?' Albus said in mock enthusiasm. I laughed.

'So, Albus, is it the library after dinner?' I asked.

'Yep,' he grinned. 'Your second home.'

Celeste laughed this time; I just resumed eating contemptuously. 'If you went there more often, then maybe _you'd _know when to stop putting lavender in your Dreamless Sleep Potion,' I retorted.

At that moment, Sam Thomas approached us from his seat further along the Gryffindor table. I looked up at him and was temporarily surprised; he _did_ have a grin worthy of _Witch Weekly_'s Most Charming Smile Award. The effect was practically dazzling.

'Hi,' he said, and looked at Celeste, grinning even more widely (at which she blushed and did a fluttery little wave). 'Er, Joe told me to tell you that he's coming out of the hospital wing tomorrow morning, so he'll be able to come to Hogsmeade. He says to meet in the Entrance Hall at ten.'

'Thanks,' I said happily. 'He's alright, then?'

'His eye's better but his nose still needs to go down a bit more,' Sam shrugged. 'Anyway...see you...'

He cast a look at Celeste before leaving, and then I turned to her impatiently. It looked as though the Quidditch-pretext plan had worked.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: A long chapter - but a good one (I hope). Anyway reviews are like the Elixir of Life, and thank you so much to SeveralShades and . . for reviewing (nice pen name). OK, bye!_

* * *

__**Chapter IV**

I awoke very early on Saturday morning to the loud tweeting of birds outside, though I was so tired that I thought I could've slept on until midday if I'd wanted to. The previous night had been a late one; I usually found homework quite manageable, but this year's load was starting to get on top of me a bit. True, the History of Magic homework had been a little less boring with Albus there, but I'd had to do patrols afterwards, and by the time I was back in the common room Albus was nowhere to be seen, so I'd continued with the homework whilst ruefully thinking that maybe sometimes being a prefect was a burden rather than a privilege. Unfortunately I hadn't got to bed until quarter past one, when I'd finally finished my palmistry diagram for the Divination teacher, Professor Venniro, after several-crossings out to the labelled diagram of a hand (I was so tired, I kept getting my life line and heart line mixed up).

I laid in bed for a while, watching dust swirl overhead in a shaft of light coming from the dormitory window. Then, when I was sure there was no way of me getting back to sleep again, I heaved out of bed, dressed and went down to breakfast. A fair few people were there, which was surprising for an early Saturday morning, but this was, after all, a Hogsmeade weekend. I searched the table for Joe, but he was either hidden by other breakfasters or hadn't been let out of the hospital wing yet. Celeste was still asleep in the dormitory, but I was surprised to see James eating breakfast with his mouth slightly open even when he wasn't eating. His reddish-brown hair, similar in colour to mine, was stuck up in all directions as though he hadn't bothered to comb it. Suppressing a giggle, I went over to talk to him, wondering why he was up so early.

'Morning,' he said groggily, as I sat down beside him.

'Morning, James!' I said brightly, pouring myself a cup of tea. 'Lovely day.'

The ceiling above, which was enchanted to mirror the weather outside, was currently a pale, calm blue with traces of white, patchy cloud. It was a perfect late winter's day.

'_How_ can you talk to me so cheerily this early in the morning?' James asked, disgusted. 'Here I was, thinking I could have a nice lie-in on my only two days of freedom out of a whole week...well, Krups might fly...'

'What are you talking about?' I laughed, spreading a considerable amount of marmalade on doorstep slices of toast. 'Are you going to Hogsmeade?'

'Fat chance,' James muttered. 'Nah, Spinnet wants us to do training for the whole day and most of the afternoon, for the match tomorrow. I've told her a thousand bloody times, I've told her we'll win, but she won't listen...'

My knife clattered onto my plate. 'But...the _whole_ team? Joe, too?'

'Nah, she's let him off, hasn't she?' James replied with an airy wave. 'Because _he's_ been in a fight so _he_ can have a day off to relax for the match...doesn't want him to do anything excitable in case it makes him tired and _messes up our chances_...she'll make an excuse for him won't she? But nope...not me...still up at Merlin knows what time in the morning to do useless practice...freezing my arse off on a broom when I'm going to be on one tomorrow as well..._no_ consideration, that girl...'

I shook my head, not really listening to James's rambling, although I did remember that Celeste was supposed to be going out with Sam Thomas, and that would have to be postponed now that the team were doing a whole day's training.

After wishing James good luck, at which he sort of gave me a hopeful grimace, I went back to the common room, given that it was not time to meet Joe yet. Once there, I found Albus sitting on a table surrounded by books; and my little brother, Hugo, a rare occurrence these days since he was a first-year and forever roaming the castle with his friends, twins Lorcan and Lysander. He was often visiting the family friend and kindly bearded giant, Hagrid, who was gamekeeper. Hagrid liked all manner of creatures, although he favoured the dangerous ones, maintaining that they were 'more interesting', and Hugo and the twins greatly enjoyed accompanying Hagrid into the Forest to see some amazing new creature he had found (when I told my mother this a few months into Hugo's first year, she gave me the strictest instructions to check with Hagrid what animal he was procuring whenever my little brother was following him, because according to her, it was more likely for it to be potentially lethal than it was for the Chudley Cannons to finish last in the Quidditch league).

'Hey, Rose,' Albus grinned when he saw me, but I did not return it.

'Where did you go last night? You had just as much homework to finish as me, and –'

'I got it all done when you were on patrols,' Albus said guiltily. 'Did you want to do the rest of it with me, too?'

'Well – I can manage on my own – but I just thought – '

'I can do homework without your help, Rose,' Albus interrupted sharply with a roll of his eyes.

'No, I wasn't saying that!' I protested. 'I thought you'd be in the common room – I thought at least with some _company_ – '

'I was upstairs in my dormitory,' said Albus simply. 'I don't have to spend every minute with you. It's not like you do that with me.'

I stared, a little hurt. 'Oh,' I said in a small voice. 'Well – well what are you doing with all the books and things, then, if you finished your homework last night?'

'He's helping me with mine,' Hugo put in cheerily, grinning up at me with a smear of dirt on his nose and his red hair dishevelled.

'Hugo, what on earth have you been doing?' I asked, too startled by his appearance that I forgot about Albus's recent nettling words.

'I've been with Hagrid,' said Hugo, predictably. 'I was helping him hollow out the trees to find the Glumbumbles.'

'The – the what?'

'Glumbumbles,' Hugo repeated gleefully. 'They're like furry flying insects – '

'_Furry flying insects_?' I repeated hoarsely, a lump forming in my throat. That didn't seem too good. 'But – no – I remember reading about them in _Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them_! They're not dangerous, are they?'

'Not really,' shrugged Hugo. 'I only saw a few, there are _loads_, Hagrid says, but they flew away. Anyway, Hagrid says we need them in the grounds because they produce this treacle or something, and it makes you really calm and Madam Pomfrey needs it for antidotes – _look_!' he whispered, and took something out of his bag. Moments later it was revealed to be a glass jar with a small creature inside it, evidently a Glumbumble. It was a little larger than an average bumblebee, but it was grey and, just as Hugo had said, furry-bodied. The wings were thick and silvery-blue. At the bottom was a thin layer of a thick, coral-coloured liquid which I supposed was the treacle.

'Hugo, let that out of the jar right now,' I instructed firmly.

'Why?' he whined.

'Because it could be dangerous and you'd probably get into trouble for keeping one,' I said sternly. 'Go on.'

Hugo gave me a look which plainly said he much regretted having me as an older sister, but crossed the common room to the window and let it out of the jar all the same. He gave the Glumbumble a look of longing as it flew away into the February sky.

'It took me ages to catch that,' he muttered regretfully. '_And_ I had to do it when Hagrid wasn't looking.'

'Oh, poor you,' I said, rolling my eyes. 'Go and wash your hands, as well. You might have gotten treacle on it or something and it could be poisonous.'

Hugo opened his mouth in protest, but knew he was fighting a losing battle and sloped off to the bathroom.

Albus regarded me with a disapproving frown when I turned back around.

'Hugo loves magical creatures, he was _so_ proud he'd caught that, you know, he was showing me and telling me all about it – '

'I'm sorry, Al, but it was for his own good!' I said defensively. 'He'll probably get in trouble for carrying it around with him, you know a teacher's going to find out somehow with the way he was showing it off – '

'He was having fun! And what does it matter if he's not supposed to have it, it didn't look dangerous to me – '

'The Ministry gave it a three-x rating!' I said, as though this justified it. 'That means "competent wizard should cope", and Hugo's hardly a competent wizard, is he?'

'Don't start talking textbook again,' Hugo snapped. 'Just because it's in writing, doesn't mean it's some solid proof – I don't care _what_ some book or the Ministry says about a little grey insect, alright, and neither does Hagrid – '

'Hagrid _can't_ have thought Hugo catching a Glumbumble was acceptable, or he wouldn't've had to do it when he wasn't looking! Listen, Al, I know you think you're right but I'm his sister and I know better than you do that if I hadn't intervened, Hugo would have probably been bitten by that stupid thing and suddenly it'll be all _my_ fault for not taking care of him – '

'Yeah, bring this all back to you, I knew you would,' Albus said angrily. 'Well if you want to talk about you, why don't we talk about the fact that Hugo couldn't even come to his own sister for help with his homework?'

I stopped and blinked, taken aback. We'd never argued like this before – and the worst thing was, it had started over something so petty. But I felt sick and ashamed. Albus was right.

Suddenly not wanting to look at him anymore, for fear of tears pricking my eyes, I turned away and headed for the portrait hole.

'Rosie!'

Celeste was approaching from the girls' staircase. She looked happy to see me, but a little confused. 'I heard you shouting. Are you okay?'

'Yeah, let's go,' I said quickly, wanting to be as far away from Albus as possible. The common room, already littered with people who were not ready to go down to breakfast, was awkwardly quiet after what had just happened, and I hated it.

I explained everything to her as we were walking down to breakfast. She looked shocked.

'But you and Albus never argue,' she said slowly.

'I know,' I replied gloomily, 'and when we do, it's not a massive argument, it'll be about something stupid like who gets the last Cauldron Cake in the box – and even then we always laugh about it. We're so close that we just _don't _argue like that.'

'Well...you're not that close...any more, are you?' Celeste said uncomfortably, taking a seat at the more crowded Gryffindor table.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, you were like brother and sister pretty much ever since you started here,' Celeste explained, grabbing a bacon sandwich. 'And now we're in fifth year, you've sort of...drifted apart.'

'I suppose,' I said lamely.

'Actually, I think it was before that when you stopped spending so much time together,' Celeste said thoughtfully. 'It happens all the time to boy-girl friendships,' she added wisely. 'Being friends with a boy doesn't matter so much when you're younger. But, you know, you'll be friends soon, I know you will.'

She smiled and I managed a half-smile in return.

'Try to forget about it. You're seeing Joe today!'

My insides swelled with happiness; it was going to be a good day. And if I got upset, I could tell Joe, and he would understand. No, maybe he'd think I was using him as someone to go to whenever I wanted to complain...or that I was trying to make him jealous...

I watched Celeste eating for a while, deep in thought, and then I remembered to tell her about the team's whole-day practice, which meant she wouldn't be seeing Sam Thomas (at which she looked thoroughly disheartened).

'There's always tomorrow,' I reminded her, as I stood up to leave at five to ten.

'Yes, but...James is going out with Genevieve, and I don't like her, and James'll just make fun of me...anyway, see you later! Maybe I'll come too, with Selina!'

I nodded, and made my way slightly nervously to the Entrance Hall. It was empty except for a line of students waiting to be signed out by the caretaker, Mildewe, an old, hunchbacked man who according to my dad was no better than his predecessor. I leaned against the Gryffindor hourglass, trying to look nonchalant, although inwardly panicking that Joe had set me up somehow. It was only a couple of minutes afterwards that Joe came bounding down the marble staircase, looking a little unsteady on his feet but nonetheless enthusiastic.

'Hi!' he said, and then coughed, possibly fearing he'd sounded too excited. I giggled.

'Hello,' I said, and then, 'You look much better!'

'Thanks,' he replied, as we joined the queue. He did indeed look restored to full health; there was no longer bruising around his eye and his nose was normal-sized again, although perhaps it was redder than usual. 'I thought Madam Pomfrey was going to make me stay another night, but she seemed to think I was okay, thankfully.'

'Maybelle doesn't, though,' I chuckled, referring to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. 'Sounds as though you got lucky.'

'Yeah, Sam came to tell me about it this morning,' Joe grinned. 'He seemed dead depressed that he's got to do training while I get to go to Hogsmeade...I guess getting into a fight does have its advantages.'

'It'll increase the chances of us winning, though, won't it?' I asked.

'I suppose, if the team don't _kill_ Maybelle today for making them practice,' Joe shrugged.

Mildewe eyed us suspiciously, and then checked our names on the long piece of parchment held in front of his small, beady eyes.

'Parrus..._Parrus_...right, there you are...and let's see..._Weasley_...'

We waited awkwardly, and then Mildewe deemed us fit to leave the castle. It was a pleasant day, just as the ceiling had shown; perhaps not hot enough to wear a t-shirt, but warm all the same. As we walked down the long, sloping drive to the village, shouts and the piercing sound of a whistle could be heard from the Quidditch pitch to my left. I looked and saw six blurs on brooms, zooming around the length of the pitch and yelling incoherently to each other.

'I suppose you'd rather be up there, wouldn't you?' I asked feebly, looking at Joe watch his team fly around passing a small red blur to each other (evidently the Quaffle) with what I thought was a trace of wistfulness in his expression. He looked at me, startled.

'No, of course not!' he assured me. 'I really like hanging around with you, Rose.'

Silently thinking that we'd never really 'hung around' before, I smiled and said, 'oh, well, me, too.'

We entered Hogsmeade after some time, which was rife with villagers doing their shopping or Hogwarts students looking to buy some chocolate from Honeydukes.

'So, where did you say we were going to go first?' I said knowingly, raising my eyebrows.

Joe grinned sheepishly. 'We can go wherever you want,' he said.

But I was too nervous to suggest anywhere, so I asked him where he wanted to go instead.

'Well, I wanted to send a letter to my Uncle Escalus,' Joe said. 'Do you mind if we go to the Post Office?'

I didn't mind, so we entered the Post Office to the sound of soft, doleful hooting, repeated on all sides. I admired a sweet little Scops owl whilst Joe chose a large eagle owl to send his letter, and then we exited and resumed our slow walk down the High Street.

'Do you have an owl of your own?' I asked curiously.

'Yes, but he's off sending a letter home,' Joe explained. 'And I know there's the Owlery, but my uncle lives in Italy, and I thought using an owl which has been specially trained for long journeys would be better.'

'Your uncle lives in _Italy_?' I gasped.

'Yeah,' he smiled, 'and we visit him in the holidays as well. He's loaded – he owns some of the shares in the Firebolt enterprise.'

'_What_?' I spluttered.

'More than half, actually,' said Joe coolly. 'But don't go spreading that around. It's not something I tell people.'

'I don't blame you,' I muttered; having someone as rich as that in the family would certainly be hard to hide, but then again, it would attract lots of unwanted attention.

Joe laughed, clearly amused at my astonishment.

'So _that's_ why you've got a Firebolt Two-Point-Eight?' I asked wonderingly. It was the latest model in the Firebolt series and the best in the world; nearly every Quidditch team played on them. Not that I was all too interested in Quidditch, of course; I'd just heard it from James once when he was poring over _Which Broomstick?_

'Yep,' he nodded modestly. 'Although – don't tell anyone – the Two-Point-Nine's nearly complete in three months, so I'm getting one, although it doesn't come out for sale to the public until next year.'

I laughed and tried to look as though this was serious news, although the chances of me considering this a classified, top-secret piece of information were less than zero.

'Speaking of Quidditch,' said Joe, 'er...would you mind if we went into Spintwitches?' He cast me a guilty look. 'It's just – I wanted to see if they had some Handle Polish and I could do with buying the new edition of _Top One Hundred Quidditch_ _Players of the Twentieth Century _– my old one's past it...'

Refraining from rolling my eyes, but smiling obligingly, I allowed him to lead me inside. I sat on a rickety leather chair and leafed through _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland _whilst he selected a small circular tin of Handle Polish ('it's for Sam's birthday', he assured me) and a glossy blue book which he took from the shelf with a triumphant grin. After he had paid for his buys, we continued ambling across the cobbles.

'Sorry, let's go somewhere _you_ want to go,' Joe said firmly.

'Well, there – there isn't anywhere I'd like to go,' I said, thinking hard.

'How about that Transfiguration book?' Joe asked cunningly, waggling his eyebrows.

'If you bring that up _one_ more time - '

'Okay, sorry, sorry!' he said hurriedly, quelling under my glowering glare.

'Well, actually,' I said pleasantly, 'I _did_ want to buy a book. It's called _House-Elves & Self-Hatred_, I don't know whether –?'

'It's called _what_?' said Joe, who had to work hard to suppress a snort of laughter.

'I – well – it's a book about house-elves, and – ' I felt myself going pink, ' – well, I'm sort of interested in elf rights, I mean – my mum told me - '

I felt silly trying to explain myself, and a little annoyed with Joe, whom I had expected to understand. My cousins all thought my ideas ridiculous, of course, but after I had learned that house-elves live and work at Hogwarts without pay, I shared my mother's view that this was totally unfair and unjust. So, I was reading into it.

Joe still couldn't stop laughing when I walked into Tomes & Scrolls, the quiet little bookshop on the High Street, and I shot him several filthy looks whilst I was paying for the book, watching him laugh to himself beside a spindly table with a pile of books stacking themselves neatly into a pile on top of it. I was still quite huffy with him afterwards, but decided to let it drop.

'There's nothing else left to buy now,' Joe said cheerily, 'so it's just a bit of fun shopping, now, I suppose, isn't it?'

It wasn't really shopping at all, since we didn't buy anything, though I did have fun. We went into Gladrags Wizardwear, and tried on all manner of ridiculous hats until the fake banana, nestled among a selection of other fake fruits on one hat, screeched, '_This is a woman's hat, you blithering idiot!' _Joe snatched it off his head, embarassed, and we left quickly.

Next, we ventured into Dervish & Banges, and peered at the broken assortment of objects flittering around of their own accord inside. This visit was short-lived, however, as I tapped a pair of broken scales curiously and they chased after me instead, creaking and clashing, and we were sent out by the shop owner although we both found the matter rather funny.

'The way they just went for you!' Joe remarked.

'It wasn't _my_ fault, I was just – inspecting them,' I giggled.

'Come on, let's go to Honeydukes, we haven't been there yet,' said Joe enthusiastically, and we followed the sweet, warm chocolate smell to the confectionary shop crammed, as always, with students wanting to try a free sample.

Joe did indeed buy me chocolate, something which I regarded with a mixture of gratefulness and embarrassment, because it seemed such a typically romantic thing to do. We walked out of the shop with our pockets full of sweets, and me carrying a large strawberry dipped in melted chocolate on a stick, my gift from Joe. We sat on a bench for a while, watching the other Hogwarts students and talking about nothing in particular. I was rather glad to have my strawberry to eat.

'Want to go and find somewhere to chat for a bit?' Joe suggested.

'Okay.' I said. We were sat opposite Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

'How about in there?' Joe asked, but I turned to him with a grimace, and I was relieved to see he had one too.

'You don't want to go in either?' I said, eyeing with distaste the frilly, fussy curtains and the way the colour scheme was a sickly pink.

'Nope. I just asked because I thought you wanted to go in. I hate it in there!' he laughed.

'I've never been – the way people talk about it has always put me off.'

We settled for the Three Broomsticks instead. When we arrived, Joe opening the door for me courteously, it was just as full as Honeydukes, except clusters of old warlocks and witches were there, too. We were lucky; a group of gossipy middle-aged women left their table by the fire just as we entered, so I was able to save it whilst Joe got the drinks.

'So are you coming to the Quidditch match tomorrow?' he asked eagerly, sitting down beside me and passing me a foaming tankard of Butterbeer.

It was the second time someone had asked me that question; the first had been Albus. Suddenly remembering my argument with him that morning, I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wondered if he was in Hogsmeade, too – my eyes quickly scanned the homely pub, but I couldn't see his spiky black hair or the glint of his round glasses.

'Rose?'

'Hm? Oh...thanks. Yes, I'm coming,' I sighed.

'You don't sound too happy about it,' Joe remarked light-heartedly. 'That much confidence in the team, eh?'

'No, it's not that,' I said absent-mindedly, smiling at him over the rim of my tankard. I was on the verge of telling him all about what Albus had said, and how hurt I felt, when I stopped and closed my mouth. Suddenly, without knowing how I knew it, I knew he wouldn't understand. And then, without warning, a great longing to be with Albus instead of Joe rolled over me like some giant tidal wave. After all the time I'd spent getting excited for my date with Joe, and wondering obsessively what to wear and what to talk about, I found that he wasn't as good as I'd thought. Of course I liked him a lot, but spending the whole day with him had turned out to be tiring and a little boring. He was funny but there was just something about the two of us as a couple...we didn't fit. And now, more than anything in the world, I wished I was with my cousin, laughing and joking and talking about homework or...or anything.

'Well, you'd better get a good seat, anyway,' Joe said, bringing me out of my reverie, and smiling, 'because the game is going to be _amazing_. We'll crush Slytherin. I mean, we haven't lost a match yet this year...true, we've only played one...but the one against Hufflepuff was easy as anything...and Ravenclaw'll be easy too, after this one...'

Was there anything else boys talked about, except Quidditch?

'...their Chaser is _seriously_ thick...but their Seeker's quite nimble, so he'll be fast...I like a challenge though...'

He was starting to remind me of some awful person my mum had told me about going out with in her sixth year, called McLaggen.

'But I think if you're there I'll have loads more confidence,' Joe said firmly, nodding. 'You being my number one fan, of course.' He flashed me a grin and then suddenly took hold of my hand. 'It means a lot to me, Rose. Your support.'

I don't know whether it was because I'd already had an argument that morning and was feeling irritable already, but something about the way he was holding my hand and expecting me to simper at him sent me over the edge.

'Well, I hope not, otherwise _you_ might find you've lost the game tomorrow!' I said angrily, and flung my hand away from him.

'Wait – what – Rose - ' Joe spluttered in complete astonishment.

'You think I'm going to just sit at your feet like you're some hero?' I asked sceptically.

'No – oh, Rose, I'm such an idiot, I didn't mean it the way it came out – all I meant was - '

'I don't really have time to listen to your excuses, okay, Joe, I'm in a bad mood already,' I snapped, and got up from the table.

'Rose, please don't go, I thought we were having a nice time!' Joe protested, his eyes wide and hopeful, and for a fraction of a second I wondered whether to sit back down and continue talking after all.

'Look,' I said, more calmly. 'I really want you to do well, and I like you, but I don't think I can see us going out. It's probably not your fault, what with the match tomorrow, but you just didn't seem to be paying attention to me, talking about Quidditch all the time, and that sounds self-centred but – well – I don't know, I just – '

'You should have said something. I had no idea that you were unhappy,' Joe said sadly. 'I was rambling on, alright, I was trying to impress you, I always feel stupid when I'm around you.'

'But _you_ should have realised,' I pointed out gently. 'I don't want to have an argument, with you, okay? I still want us to be on good terms. But I just don't want to go out with you again.'

'I feel a complete prick, going and ruining everything for you,' Joe muttered, shame-faced.

'You didn't!' I insisted, not quite truthfully. 'I still had a good time!'

'Yeah,' said Joe sullenly, who wasn't meeting my eyes. 'Okay.'

I stood awkwardly above him in desperation, wanting nothing more than to leave, but now I felt awful inflicting the misery upon him.

'Good luck for tomorrow,' I said quietly. 'I'll still be there, rooting for you.'

He didn't say anything, so I rushed off feeling guiltier than ever.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: It's been a long while since I updated, and_ _the truth is I could have posted this sooner, but laziness took over. Anyway I've got the next chapter all done so that's ready too. Hurrah!_**  
**

_Previously on LDE: Rose gets into a disagreement with her cousin Albus and is left feeling bitter; can she repair the friendship? And she ends things badly with Joe, too. So things aren't looking up.  
_

* * *

**Chapter V**

'Joe Parrus is an insensitive, big-headed toe rag,' Celeste declared half an hour later, when we were sat in two of the good armchairs by the fire in the common room. I'd met her there on my solitary way back from Hogsmeade, feeling thoroughly miserable, and explained everything to her. Out of loyalty to me, she took the same view on Joe as I did, if not even stronger, telling me I could do a hundred times better than him.

'Don't say that,' I told her, though I was smiling weakly. 'He's still a nice person.'

'You're too soft, Rosie,' Celeste said. 'He was totally selfish. _And_ he wasn't thinking about you, which is what boys are supposed to do on a date. He didn't ask about you once. He made you feel guilty for just being honest. He laughed about your elf book – well' – she had to stifle a grin at this point – 'it _is_ a bit weird, but it was still really tactless to laugh at you.'

'Everyone laughs about it,' I said miserably, staring into the glowing embers of the fire.

'Well, he shouldn't have!' said Celeste indignantly, patting my shoulder consolingly. 'It made you offended. _You_ wouldn't have laughed at him for something like that.'

'I wouldn't!' I said truthfully.

'Which is another reason to support the fact that you can do better than him,' Celeste stated firmly. 'Listen, I'm supposed to be going into Hogsmeade with Selina in a bit – if you want to come – '

'No thanks,' I said shortly; Joe might still be there and I didn't want to risk running into him again, plus I didn't feel like going out at the moment.

'That's okay. I can tell Selina we can go another time.'

'No, don't let me stop you from going! Go on, go with Selina,' I said, and though I would have much preferred that she stay with me, I felt selfish saying it.

'Well – are you sure, Rosie?' Celeste eyed me fretfully.

'Of course I am!' I said in a falsely bright voice. 'I'm not _ill_!'

'You could try and make up with Albus while I'm gone,' Celeste suggested as she stood up.

'Yeah,' I said vaguely, secretly thinking that Albus wouldn't even want to talk to me so it would be pointless to try.

'I won't be very long,' she assured me, and hurried to the portrait hole to meet Selina.

I sat curled up in my armchair like a cat, trying not to contemplate how bad this day had turned out to be. I tried to think of positive outcomes and could only come up with the fact that all of my homework was finished. However, I even found myself regretting that I'd done it last night – homework, however tedious, would at least be something to do.

**O0O**

The morning of the match dawned clear and cool; conditions which, according to James, were perfect for a match. I went down to breakfast with Celeste to meet a sea of red and green at either end of the House tables; flags, scarves and banners were already present, waving their way among the crowd. The Slytherins were doing a great deal of hissing towards members of the Gryffindor team, who were grouped around the middle of their House table discussing tactics or else admiring each other's brooms. As I added bacon and eggs to mine and Celeste's plates, I noticed that the centre of attention on the team seemed to be Joe, who was holding out his Firebolt Two-Point-Eight to ecstatic looks from the others. Without warning, Joe suddenly looked over at me as if he knew I was watching, and, caught off guard, I gave him a small smile and returned to my conversation with Celeste rather flustered.

'They've watched him play on that Firebolt for the past Merlin knows how long and they're acting like they've never seen it before!' I said, a little annoyed.

Celeste shrugged. 'It's a boy thing,' she said reasonably. 'They're doing it to show the Slytherin team that they've got the better brooms. Plus everyone else sees it too, which is never a bad thing.'

She was dressed a bit more supportively than I was; only wearing my red-and-gold striped scarf, I looked as though I'd put in little effort next to her red coat, Gryffindor flag, red-and-gold painted nails and even earrings in the form of little lions. I had a feeling her sudden Gryffindor obsession was mainly for Sam's benefit.

I scanned the table for Albus, but I couldn't see him amid the throng of cheering people who had closed in on the team to wish them good luck or have a look at their brooms. I felt deeply disheartened that he wouldn't be sitting with me as we watched the match; after all, he was the only one who could fully explain what was happening so that I understood it. Whilst Celeste sidled over to Sam to talk to him before the match, I went up to James, to whom I was thoroughly thankful for standing quite a way away from Joe.

'Good luck, James,' I said brightly, clapping him on the back.

'Thanks, little _Rosie-Wosie_,' he grinned in a mockingly high-pitched voice, putting one arm around me in a brotherly way.

'Please, no nicknames,' I said, pretending to look revolted. 'It's bad enough that I get them from you lot at home.'

'Yeah, there's been a lot through the years,' James said reminiscently. 'My personal favourite was always "Little Ginger", though, courtesy of Dad.'

'Which is a bit rich, since he _married_ one!' I retorted.

'Nah, he was only joking, he has a thing for the old red hair,' James said, squeezing my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes.

'Oh – and by the way, I heard about your little date yesterday,' James said, lowering his voice. 'Sounds as though you got a bit _feisty_ – '

'Shut up, James,' I said, giving him a look. He raised his eyebrows.

'Sorry it didn't go so well for you anyway,' he said lightly. 'He's obviously a right git, isn't he?'

I gave him a little smile, surprised but pleased that he was showing understanding in his own funny way.

'But don't tell him I said that,' James continued hastily.

'Anyway,' I continued sardonically, 'I just wanted to see if you were all ready for battle, you know – '

'Me? _Ready_? Born that way,' he said bracingly, hammering his Beater's bat on the table in what I thought was rather a menacing fashion. 'Just you wait, it'll be a party in the common room tonight and a private little broom cupboard for Genevieve and I, if you know what I mean – '

'Come on team, let's go!' Maybelle shouted suddenly, and at that I gave James a brief hug and watched the team traipse out to the pitch. Celeste was looking very happy about something; when we followed the rest of the school out into the stands she revealed that Sam had said he would be 'thinking about her' whilst playing.

'What rubbish!' I scoffed, as we found a particularly good seat amongst the sold red Gryffindor end. 'He's not going to be thinking about anything else but the game. He was just saying that to make you get even more obsessed with him than you already are.'

But Celeste was not listening and was watching Sam with a gushing, glowing look, batting her eyelashes as though he could see her although he was all the way out on the pitch and focusing on Madam Batt blowing the whistle.

'He looks _so_ good in Quidditch uniform...'

I made a little sceptical noise.

'_You_ seem to have become much more cynical since it didn't work out so well with Joe yesterday,' Celeste remarked, raising an eyebrow knowingly.

I stared at the game, feeling myself going pink. Since I'd realised I wasn't so mad about Joe after all, every other situation similar to mine just seemed petty and childish, as if I suddenly knew everything about relationships now I'd had one ruined date. And to be honest, it wasn't even that bad. It wasn't like I slopped Butterbeer down his front, or overturned the table, or left in a dramatic fit of tears –

I was interrupted by a whistle sounding and a sudden uproar of cheers on all sides; the match had started and fourteen red-and-green players had shot into the air.

'And they're off!' shouted the commentator, sixth-year Bradley Robins. 'Well, the Gryffindor team looks pretty good to go, I'd say, with Parrus's Firebolt-Two-Point-Eight and – whoa, look at that thing go! It's international standard of course, look at the balance – '

There were a lot of jeers and boos from the Slytherin end, and some people yelled, '_Get on with the commentary_!' and even '_We're watching the _game_, you biased wanker!_'

At which Professor Stebbins grabbed the magical megaphone and threatened to take fifty points from Slytherin the next time someone insulted the commentator.

'Yeah, how's fifty points off Slytherin suit _you_, you foul-mouthed – '

'– Robins –!'

'– Sorry, Professor – well, anyway, it's Thomas with the Quaffle, who passes to Spinnet – and there's a Bludger, Maybelle! _Quick_ – yes, she's dodged it, and the Bludger's been thwacked towards Pritchard by Potter, good one James – but Pritchard's not happy, just _look_ at his gorilla face – '

More boos from the Slytherin end; Professor Stebbins glared angrily at Bradley and tried to grab the magical megaphone.

'– Sorry, sorry, Professor, I shouldn't've insulted the Slytherin Beater – sorry – but on with the commentary – Thomas is back with the Quaffle, and he's speeding towards the scoring area, just look at him go! He's preparing, he's ready, POTTER, THAT'S A BLUDGER GOING HIS WAY, GET IT, QUICK – right, that's the Bludger taken care of, and – and – HE SCORES!'

His words were drowned by tumultuous applause; Celeste stood up and started whooping wildly; laughing at her enthusiasm, I stood up myself and clapped appreciatively. The noise was matched only by the boos and jeers from the tidal wave of green and silver at the opposite end of the stands.

Gryffindor scored twice more within the next five minutes. With Slytherin goalless and angrier than ever, even I found it hard to maintain my sceptical outlook on everyone's fascination with Quidditch. There was nothing more satisfying that standing up and cheering fervently every time Gryffindor scored ten points, and seeing the Slytherins' crestfallen faces.

The game came to a glorious end twenty minutes later when Joe swiped the Snitch right from under the Slytherin seeker's nose. With the final score at two hundred to twenty, the team were practically hoisted onto the whole of the Gryffindor house's shoulders. Celeste screamed and went to congratulate Sam, upon which he kissed her several times in ecstasy; Albus could at last be seen locked in a sort of half-nelson with his older brother; Hugo was there, with the twins, who belonged to Ravenclaw house but were supporting Gryffindor anyway. Feeling happy, but not wanting to go too near in case Joe and I suddenly ended up face-to-face, I laughed and cheered with the others and then returned to Gryffindor Tower.

**O0O**

Banners, flags and several half-full bottles of Butterbeer were present in the common room that night. The party continued well past midnight; the win was a sure sign that the Quidditch Cup would soon be theirs, too. Loud, rowdy music blared out of the wireless, but no-one was paying attention to it. The loud buzz of laughter and talking outshone it significantly.

Picking my way across the Butterbeer- and streamer-strewn floor, I met Celeste, who was standing with Sam, who had his arm around her waist. They'd gone to Hogsmeade some time after the match with the rest of the Quidditch team, although Sam separated from the others pretty soon to spend more time with her. She looked prettier than ever, and slightly flushed, her blonde hair curled and a bottle of Butterbeer held in one hand.

'Hey, Rosie!' she said, slightly louder than usual.

'Hi, Cece. Hey, Sam.'

He nodded at me in a friendly way. 'Er, Joe says he wants to talk to y—'

'_No_, Sam,' Celeste interrupted firmly, putting a finger to his lips. 'She's not talking to him ever again. Not after how he treated her.'

'Cece, it's not like he – '

'Nope.'

'But – '

'_No_. Rosie, don't talk to him, okay? Whatever _he's_ got to say is not important.'

I wondered how much she'd had to drink; there was a large bottle of Firewhisky making its way around the party, too. Celeste gave Sam a simpering look that made me want to spew Butterbeer everywhere, and then he returned it and became locked in a close embrace with her, kissing in the soppiest fashion I'd ever seen.

Before I actually _did_ start projectile vomiting, I pushed past them and squeezed between two raucous sixth-years who pulled on my hair.

'Alright, Freckles?' one of them laughed.

I pulled out my wand threateningly and considered the Conjunctivitis Curse, but before I could cast it on either of them, they'd roared with laughter and stumbled drunkenly out of sight. Shaking my head in quiet fury, I elbowed my way around several people who didn't even appear to notice me and went through the portrait hole.

My first sight of the seventh-floor corridor was not a pretty one; it was to find James tucked in a niche with Genevieve Goldstein and kissing her fiercely.

'Lovely,' I whispered to myself grimly. What was with people kissing after Gryffindor had won a match? It seemed to invoke some sort of urge in people.

I was deep in thought as I made my way along the corridor without really knowing where I was going. I didn't know if I was simply tired, or the recent loud and jubilant cheers of the common room, or the Butterbeer which had left a sharp ringing in my ears, but I was bored and more than a little miserable. I knew I'd be enjoying the party more if I was laughing and dancing jokily with Albus, but Albus was back in the common room, oblivious to my regret at ever starting an argument with him, talking to Maybelle enthusiastically and reliving the more exciting highlights of the match. With Celeste and James extremely occupied at the minute, it looked like it was just me and a solitary Butterbeer.

I walked down a tightly spiralling flight of stairs and made to sit down on the little set of stone steps outside an empty Muggle Studies classroom.

But there was already someone there.


End file.
